

Introduction
Ivanson Ranny "Johnny" Nelson (born 4 January 1967) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1986 to 2005. He is currently the longest reigning cruiserweight world champion of all time, having held the WBO title from 1999 to 2005, making thirteen successful defences, a record shared with Marco Huck. Nelson also held the British cruiserweight title twice, from 1989 to 1990 and 1996 to 1997; and the European cruiserweight title twice, from 1990 to 1992 and 1997 to 1998.
Professional career
Nelson's 14th defence of his WBO cruiserweight title was scheduled to be against Welshman Enzo Maccarinelli on the undercard for the Joe Calzaghe versus Jeff Lacy WBO/IBF unification bout on 6 March 2006, but an injury picked up by Nelson forced the fight to be cancelled and Nelson announced his decision to retire from professional boxing a few months later on 22 September 2006.
Professional boxing record
| Professional record summary | ||
| 59 fights | 45 wins | 12 losses |
| By knockout | 29 | 1 |
| By decision | 16 | 10 |
| By disqualification | 0 | 1 |
| Draws | 2 | |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 59 | Win | 45–12–2 | SD | 12 | 26 Nov 2005 | Retained WBO cruiserweight title | ||
| 58 | Win | 44–12–2 | TKO | 7 (12), 2:29 | 9 Apr 2004 | Retained WBO cruiserweight title | ||
| 57 | Win | 43–12–2 | MD | 12 | 15 Nov 2003 | Retained WBO cruiserweight title | ||
| 56 | Draw | 42–12–2 | SD | 12 | 23 Nov 2002 | Retained WBO cruiserweight title | ||
| 55 | Win | 42–12–1 | KO | 8 (12), 2:39 | 4 Jun 2002 | Retained WBO cruiserweight title | ||
| 54 | Win | 41–12–1 | UD | 12 | 24 Nov 2001 | Won vacant WBU heavyweight title | ||
| 53 | Win | 40–12–1 | UD | 12 | 21 Jul 2001 | Retained WBO cruiserweight title | ||
| 52 | Win | 39–12–1 | UD | 12 | 27 Jan 2001 | Retained WBO cruiserweight title | ||
| 51 | Win | 38–12–1 | KO | 5 (12), 2:12 | 10 Jul 2000 | Retained WBO cruiserweight title | ||
| 50 | Win | 37–12–1 | TKO | 7 (12), 2:23 | 4 Aug 2000 | Retained WBO cruiserweight title | ||
| 49 | Win | 36–12–1 | KO | 4 (12), 2:34 | 11 Jun 1999 | Retained WBO cruiserweight title | ||
| 48 | Win | 35–12–1 | UD | 12 | 18 Sep 1999 | Retained WBO cruiserweight title | ||
| 47 | Win | 34–12–1 | TKO | 4 (12), 3:00 | 8 Jul 1999 | Retained WBO cruiserweight title | ||
| 46 | Win | 33–12–1 | UD | 12 | 15 May 1999 | Retained WBO cruiserweight title | ||
| 45 | Win | 32–12–1 | TKO | 5 (12), 1:42 | 27 Mar 1999 | Won WBO cruiserweight title | ||
| 44 | Win | 31–12–1 | RTD | 6 (8), 3:00 | 18 Jul 1998 | |||
| 43 | Win | 30–12–1 | TKO | 1 (12), 1:13 | 10 Nov 1997 | Retained European cruiserweight title | ||
| 42 | Win | 29–12–1 | PTS | 4 | 19 Jul 1997 | |||
| 41 | Win | 28–12–1 | KO | 7 (12) | 22 Feb 1997 | Won vacant European cruiserweight title | ||
| 40 | Win | 27–12–1 | TKO | 7 (12), 1:50 | 14 Dec 1996 | Won vacant British cruiserweight title | ||
| 39 | Win | 26–12–1 | KO | 2 (6), 2:07 | 20 Jan 1996 | |||
| 38 | Loss | 25–12–1 | UD | 12 | 3 Dec 1995 | For WBF heavyweight title | ||
| 37 | Loss | 25–11–1 | PTS | 12 | 22 Aug 1995 | Lost WBF heavyweight title | ||
| 36 | Win | 25–10–1 | UD | 12 | 5 Nov 1994 | Retained WBF heavyweight title | ||
| 35 | Loss | 24–10–1 | PTS | 10 | 4 May 1994 | |||
| 34 | Win | 24–9–1 | UD | 12 | 19 Nov 1993 | Won WBF heavyweight title | ||
| 33 | Loss | 23–9–1 | DQ | 10 (12) | 10 Jan 1993 | Lost WBF cruiserweight title; Nelson disqualified for repeated fouls |
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| 32 | Win | 23–8–1 | TKO | 1 (12) | 4 Nov 1993 | Retained WBF cruiserweight title | ||
| 31 | Win | 22–8–1 | TKO | 11 (12) | 30 Apr 1993 | Won WBF cruiserweight title | ||
| 30 | Loss | 21–8–1 | UD | 10 | 24 Oct 1992 | |||
| 29 | Loss | 21–7–1 | TKO | 3 (8) | 14 Aug 1992 | |||
| 28 | Loss | 21–6–1 | UD | 12 | 16 May 1992 | For IBF cruiserweight title | ||
| 27 | Win | 21–5–1 | TKO | 8 (12), 2:35 | 3 Dec 1991 | Retained European cruiserweight title | ||
| 26 | Win | 20–5–1 | TKO | 12 (12) | 14 Dec 1990 | Won vacant European cruiserweight title | ||
| 25 | Win | 19–5–1 | PTS | 8 | 9 May 1990 | |||
| 24 | Win | 18–5–1 | TKO | 2 (8), 0:25 | 27 Jun 1990 | |||
| 23 | Win | 17–5–1 | KO | 4 (12), 1:49 | 28 Mar 1990 | Retained British cruiserweight title | ||
| 22 | Win | 16–5–1 | TKO | 7 (8) | 14 Feb 1990 | |||
| 21 | Draw | 15–5–1 | SD | 12 | 27 Jan 1990 | For WBC cruiserweight title | ||
| 20 | Win | 15–5 | KO | 2 (12) | 10 Feb 1989 | Retained British cruiserweight title | ||
| 19 | Win | 14–5 | TKO | 8 (12) | 21 May 1989 | Won British cruiserweight title | ||
| 18 | Win | 13–5 | TKO | 2 (8), 1:56 | 4 Apr 1989 | |||
| 17 | Win | 12–5 | TKO | 2 (10), 0:53 | 26 Oct 1988 | Won vacant British Central Area cruiserweight title | ||
| 16 | Win | 11–5 | PTS | 8 | 31 Aug 1988 | |||
| 15 | Win | 10–5 | KO | 2 (8) | 6 Jun 1988 | |||
| 14 | Win | 9–5 | PTS | 8 | 5 Apr 1988 | |||
| 13 | Win | 8–5 | KO | 1 (8), 1:40 | 25 Apr 1988 | |||
| 12 | Win | 7–5 | KO | 1 (8) | 24 Feb 1988 | |||
| 11 | Loss | 6–5 | PTS | 8 | 2 Jan 1988 | |||
| 10 | Win | 6–4 | TKO | 6 (8) | 14 Dec 1987 | |||
| 9 | Win | 5–4 | TKO | 3 (8) | 6 Mar 1987 | |||
| 8 | Loss | 4–4 | PTS | 8 | 28 Apr 1987 | |||
| 7 | Win | 4–3 | TKO | 1 (8), 0:52 | 4 Oct 1987 | |||
| 6 | Win | 3–3 | PTS | 6 | 3 Feb 1987 | |||
| 5 | Win | 2–3 | PTS | 6 | 19 Jan 1987 | |||
| 4 | Win | 1–3 | PTS | 6 | 20 Nov 1986 | |||
| 3 | Loss | 0–3 | PTS | 4 | 3 Oct 1986 | |||
| 2 | Loss | 0–2 | PTS | 6 | 15 May 1986 | |||
| 1 | Loss | 0–1 | PTS | 6 | 18 Mar 1986 | Professional debut |
Life after boxing
Nelson is now a pundit for Sky Television. Since retirement he has spent some time working with the prison service helping inmates with life management skills. He's also played a role in some charity work, agreeing to fight a charity match against Jos Battle.
Personal life
Nelson's parents split up when he was a young child and he didn't reunite with his biological father until he was in his thirties. In 2010, Nelson published his autobiography, Hard Road to Glory.